An ultrasonic propagation imaging (UPI) system consisted of a Q-switched Nd-YAG pulsed laser and a galvanometer
laser mirror scanner was developed. The system which requires neither reference data nor fixed focal length could be
used for health monitoring of curved structures. If combined with a fiber acoustic wave PZT (FAWPZT) sensor, it could
be used to inspect hot target structures that present formidable challenges to the usage of contact piezoelectric
transducers mainly due to the operating temperature limitation of transducers and debonding problem due to the
mismatch of coefficient of thermal expansion between the target, transducer and bonding material. The inspection of a
stainless steel plate with a curvature radius of about 4 m, having 2mm×1mm open-crack was demonstrated at 150°C
using a FAWPZT sensor welded on the plate. Highly-curved surfaces scanning capability and adaptivity of the system
for large laser incident angle up to 70° was demonstrated on a stainless steel cylinder with 2mm×1mm open-crack. The
imaging results were presented in ultrasonic propagation movie which was a moving wavefield emerged from an
installed ultrasonic sensor. Damages were localized by the scattering wavefields. The result images enabled easy
detection and interpretation of structural defects as anomalies during ultrasonic wave propagation.
A fiber optic Bragg grating based acoustic emission sensor system is developed to provide on-line monitoring of cracks
or leaks in reactor vessel head penetration of nuclear power plants. Various type of fiber Bragg grating sensor including
the variable length of sensing part was fabricated and prototype sensor system was tested by using PZT pulser and pencil
lead break sources. In this study, we developed a cantilever type fiber sensor to enhance the sensitivity and to resonant
frequency control. Two types of sensor attachment were used. First, the fiber Bragg grating sensor was fully bonded to
the surface using bonding agent. Second one is that one part of fiber was partially bonded to surface and the other part of
fiber will be remained freely. The resonant frequency of the fiber Bragg grating sensor will depend on the length of
sensing part. Various kinds of resonant type fiber Bragg grating acoustic emission sensors were developed. Also several
efforts were done to enhance the sensitivity of FBG AE sensor, which include FBG spectrum optimization and electrical
and optical noise reduction. Finally, based on the self-developed acquisition system, a series of tests demonstrate the
ability of the developed fiber sensor system to detect a pencil lead break event and continuous leak signal.
There are to be some cracks on the material degradation part or the stress concentration parts of the main members,
which carry on over-loads, of structures. Because these cracks can be used to evaluate the structural health status, it is
important to monitor the crack growth for maintaining the structural safety. In this study, the fiber Bragg grating sensor
with a drop ball was developed as a sensor for crack growth detection of an existing crack. The crack growth detection
sensor was constructed with three parts: a probe part, a wavelength control light source and receiver part, and an impact
part. The probe part was just formed with a fiber Bragg grating optical fiber. The wavelength control light source part
was composed of a current supplying circuit, a DFB laser diode, and a TEC control circuit for wavelength control. Also,
the impact part was just implemented by dropping a steel ball. The performance of this sensor was confirmed by the
experiments of the crack detection with an aluminum plate having one existing crack. According to these experiments,
the difference of the sensor signal outputs was correlated with the crack length. So, it was confirmed that this sensor
could be applied to monitor the crack growth.
Acoustic emission (AE) has emerged as a powerful nondestructive tool to detect preexisting defects or to characterize
failure mechanisms. Recently, this technique or this kind of principle, that is an in-situ monitoring of inside damages of
materials or structures, becomes increasingly popular for monitoring the integrity of large structures. Concrete is one of
the most widely used materials for constructing civil structures. In the nondestructive evaluation point of view, a lot of
AE signals are generated in concrete structures under loading whether the crack development is active or not. Also, it
was required to find a symptom of damage propagation before catastrophic failure through a continuous monitoring.
Therefore we have done a practical study in this work to fabricate compact wireless AE sensor and to develop diagnosis
system. First, this study aims to identify the differences of AE event patterns caused by both real damage sources and
the other normal sources. Secondly, it was focused to develop acoustic emission diagnosis system for assessing the
deterioration of concrete structures such as a bridge, dame, building slab, tunnel etc. Thirdly, the wireless acoustic
emission system was developed for the application of monitoring concrete structures. From the previous laboratory study
such as AE event patterns analysis under various loading conditions, we confirmed that AE analysis provided a
promising approach for estimating the condition of damage and distress in concrete structures. In this work, the
algorithm for determining the damage status of concrete structures was developed and typical criteria for decision
making was also suggested. For the future application of wireless monitoring, a low energy consumable, compact, and
robust wireless acoustic emission sensor module was developed and applied to the concrete beam for performance test.
Finally, based on the self-developed diagnosis algorithm and compact wireless AE sensor, new AE system for practical
AE diagnosis was demonstrated for assessing the conditions of damage and distress in concrete structures.
Optical fiber mesh can be applied on some fences to secure some protective facilities. It is necessary to give the fiber
macro bending signal in order to detect an intruder at the initial intrusion stage with the off signal from fiber cutting.
Therefore, in this work, we made two step signal processing algorithm of the optical fiber mesh for detecting the intruder
effectively. First step is composed of the discrimination processing whether the fiber has some macro bending or not. If
the signal tells the macro bending, then it means that some intruder tries to invade. Second step is the signal destruction
by cutting the optical fiber. This step means that the intruder invaded by cutting the optical fiber mesh.
Self-sensing and actuation were investigated for carbon nanofiber (CNF) and Ni nanowire/polymer composites. Electro-micromechanical techniques can be used for evaluating self-sensing and interfacial properties indirectly under loading/subsequent unloading. Apparent modulus and contact resistivity for CNF/epoxy composites were evaluated as functions of different aspect ratio. CNF/epoxy composites with smaller aspect ratio shown to be higher apparent modulus due to high volume content in case of short aspect ratio. Surface energy via dynamic contact angle measurement was evaluated to obtain interfacial adhesion between nano-materials embedded matrix and carbon fiber sensor. Interfacial properties of CNF/epoxy with different aspect ratios were also obtained indirectly. CNF-PVDF, Ni nanowire-CNF-silicone and Ni nanowire-cellulose actuator were made successfully. Electrochemical actuator of CNF-PVDF was responded in electrolyte solution. Magnetic actuators of Ni nanowire-CNF-silicone and Ni nanowire-cellulose composites were monitored under electro-magnetic field with different frequency, wave function and voltage. Ni nanowire-CNF-silicone actuator with lightness and Ni nanowire-cellulose actuator with rapid frequency response having meaningful merits can be applied for various new smart structural materials.
Self-sensing and actuation were investigated for CNF and Ni nanowire/epoxy and silicone composites. Electro-micromechanical techniques can be used for self sensing for loading, temperature. CNF/epoxy composites with smaller aspect ratio showed higher apparent modulus due to high volume content in case of shorter aspect ratio. Apparent modulus and electrical resistivity change were evaluated as functions of different carbon fiber types. Interfacial properties of CNF/epoxy with different aspect ratios were obtained indirectly. Using Ni nanowire/silicone composites with different content, load sensing response of electrical contact resistivity was investigated under tensile and compression condition. The mechanical properties of Ni nanowire with different type and content/epoxy composites were indirectly measured apparent modulus using uniformed cyclic loading and electro-pullout test. Ni nanowire /epoxy composites showed temperature sensing within limited ranges, 20 vol% reinforcement. CNF-PVDF and Ni-silicone actuator were made successfully. Electrochemical actuator of CNF-PVDF was responded in electrolyte solution. Magnetic actuator of Ni nanowire-silicone composites was monitored under electro-magnetic field. CNF-Ni nanowire-silicone actuator having meaningful merits can be expected to be new smart structural materials at a various applications. Nanocomposites using CNF and Ni nanowire can be applicable practically for multi-functional applications nondestructively.
Nondestructive damage sensing and load transfer mechanisms of carbon nanotube (CNT), nanofiber (CNF), and Ni nanowire strands/epoxy composites were investigated using electro-micromechanical technique. Electrospun PVDF nanofiber was also prepared as a piezoelectric sensor. High volume% CNT/epoxy composites showed significantly higher tensile properties than neat and low volume% CNT/epoxy composites. CNF /epoxy composites with smaller aspect ratio showed higher apparent modulus due to high volume content in case of shorter aspect ratio. Using Ni nanowire strands/silicone composites with different content, load sensing response of electrical contact resistivity was investigated under tensile and compression condition. The mechanical properties of Ni nanowire strands with different type and content/epoxy composites were indirectly measured apparent modulus using uniformed cyclic loading and electro-pullout test. CNT or Ni nanowire strands/epoxy composites showed humidity and temperature sensing within limited ranges, 20 vol% reinforcement. Thermal treated electrospun PVDF nanofiber showed higher mechanical properties than the untreated case due to increased crystallization, whereas load sensing decreased in heat treated case. Electrospun PVDF nanofiber web also responded the sensing effect on humidity and temperature. Nanocomposites using CNT, CNF, Ni nanowire strands, and electrospun PVDF nanofiber web can be applicable practically for multifunctional applications nondestructively.
This paper presents the theory, design, and evaluation of a smart device for the enhanced separation of particles mixed in fluid. The smart device takes advantage of the ultrasonic standing wave, which was generated by the operation of a piezoceramic PZT patch installed in the smart device. The details of the device design including the electro-acoustical modelling for separation and PZT transducer are described at first. Based on this design, the separation device was fabricated and evaluated. In the experiments, an optical camera with a zoom lense was used to monitor the position of interested particles within the separation channel layer in the device. The electric impedance of the PZT patch bonded on the separation device was measured. The device shows a strong levitation force against 50μm diameter sand particles mixed with water at the separation channel in the device. Experimetal results also showed that the device can levitate both heavy and light settled sand particles clouds on the bottom to the nodal lines of the generated standing wave field in the separation channel.
This study was aimed at developing a new method for assessing the integrity of concrete structures. Especially acoustic emission technique was used in carrying out both laboratory experiment and field application. From the previous laboratory study, we confirmed that AE analysis provided a promising approach for estimating the level of damage and distress in concrete structures. The Felicity ratio, one of the key parameter for assessing damage, exhibits a favorable correlation with the overall damage level. The total number of AE events under stepwise cyclic loading also showed a good agreement with the damage level. In this study, a new suggested technique was applied to several concrete bridges in Korea in order to verify the applicability in field. The AE response was analyzed to obtain key parameters such as the total number and rate of AE events, AE parameter analysis for each event, and the characteristic features of the waveform as well as Felicity ratio analysis. Stepwise loading-unloading procedure for AE generation was introduced in field test by using each different weight of vehicle. According to the condition of bridge, for instance new or old bridge, AE event rate and AE generation behavior indicated many different aspects. The results showed that the suggested analyzing method would be a promising approach for assessing the integrity of concrete structures.
Acoustic emission technique was employed for the monitoring of crack activity in both steel bridge members and laboratory specimen. Laboratory experiment was carried out to identify AE characteristics of fatigue cracks for compact tension specimen. The relationship between a stress intensity factor and AE signals activity as well as conventional AE parameter analysis was discussed. A field test was also conducted on a railway bridge, which contain several fatigue cracks. Crack activities were investigated while in service with strain measurement. From the results, in the laboratory tests, the features of three parameters such as the length of crack growth, the AE energy, and the cumulative AE events, showed the almost same trend in their increase as the number of fatigue cycle increased. From the comparisons of peak amplitude and AE energy with stress intensity factor, it was verified that the higher stress intensity factors generated AE signals with higher peak amplitude and a large number of AE counts. In the field test, real crack propagation signals were captured and the crack activity was verified in two cases.
The acoustic emission (AE) behavior of reinforced concrete beams tested under flexural loading was investigated to characterize and identify the source of damage. This research was aimed at identifying the characteristic AE response associated with micro-crack development, localized crack propagation, corrosion, and debonding of the reinforcing steel.
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